As the holidays approach and you’re buying wine, ever wonder what’s really in a cork?  Ask NJIT’s John Federici, who has a new use for Terahertz imaging: searching for divots and cracks in wine corks to insure quality.  Using Federici’s laboratory, which is devoted to sub-millimeter or Terahertz waves, the project, in collaboration with Amorim & Irmãos S.A. Portugal, the world’s largest  natural cork producer, and sponsored by QREN, a Portuguese national program for development and innovation, is focused on detecting defects such as cracks and voids in the cork. >>

John Federici, a physics professor at NJIT, sees the use of terahertz rays as a critical technology in the defense against suicide bombers and other terrorist activities.  Federici and his research team recently described experimental results from a digital video camera invented in their laboratory that uses a terahertz imaging system.  One day such a device could be used to scan airport passengers quickly and efficiently. “Video-Rate terahertz Interferometric and Synthetic Aperture Imaging” appeared in Applied Optics (July, 2009).  >>

John Federici, PhD, a professor in the department of physics and other physicists at NJIT recently received a U.S. Patent for a Terahertz imaging system and method. Since 1995, Terahertz imaging has grown in importance as new and sophisticated devices and equipment have empowered scientists to understand its potential. “I see the Terahertz spectrum as one of the critical technologies for defense against suicide bombers and other terrorist activities,” Federici said. >>